Image: Shutterstock

It may sound strange considering the country’s ecomonic status, but business is good for most African American-owned businesses — especially in Michigan. According to Ken Harris, president and CEO of the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce, black businesses are “growing at a rate three times the national average,” he told CBS Detroit. He continued, “…there’s more than 79,000 black-owner firms in Michigan; more than 32,000 in the city of Detroit alone, which ranks number four in the entire country.”

Harris believes one reason this may be happening is the younger generation’s passion for becoming entrepreneurs.  “Entrepreneurship is extremely attractive,” Harris told CBS Detroit. “That’s why we have a Chamber of Commerce there now, to really nurture and develop young entrepreneurs; to put the types of resources in place that will allow them to benefit, to build their businesses [to] more than just a one-employee business. [M]ore importantly, to compete globally.”

It’s not only in Michigan where black businesses are growing. According to the most recent numbers from the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency and the US Census Bureau, the number of African American-owned firms in the United States increased by 60.5 percent between 2002 and 2007 to 1.9 million firms. Because of these stats, African-American businesses are proving themselves very important to the U.S. economy and its recovery. The Bureau reported that “African American-owned businesses also drove job creation over the five-year period, with employment growing 22 percent, exceeding that of non-minority-owned businesses.”

Despite this positive growth, however African-American businesses only represent seven percent of all businesses in the U.S.

Image: iStockphoto

The person holding the winning Powerball ticket is somewhere in Michigan. That person — a single human being holding a little slip of paper — is also $337 million richer (minus taxes, which brings the lump-sum payment to $241 million). The jackpot is the third biggest in Powerball history.

The winning numbers are : 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and the Powerball, 21. The winner purchased the ticket at a gas station in Lapeer, a town about 45 miles from Detroit. Five tickets sold are worth $1 million, and another ticket in Nebraska is worth $2 million.

The odds of winning were 175 million-to-one and more than 86 million tickets were sold. According to the senior drawing manager of the Multi-State Lottery Association, Sue Dooley, everyone has an equal chance of winning when they plunk down their $2 for a ticket. Interesting facts about the drawing:

-One of those machines costs $55,000. Each of the balls costs $60.

-Cameras positioned all around the Florida studio where the drawing takes places beam the proceedings back to the lottery HQ outside of Des Moines, I.A.

-Iowa officials take a final count of the jackpot about an hour before the drawing, so it can be accurately announced during the drawing.

So even if you didn’t win, you’re now rich in lottery information.

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Christine Bolden, a 26 year old woman from Michigan, was walking with her boyfriend and 3 year old son on March 6, when she suddenly felt a pain in her head. Shortly afterward, she collapsed. Doctors later said that she’d suffered from two brain aneurysms and was subsequently declared brain dead.

But Christine’s story is a bit different, you see she was 5 months pregnant with twins at the time of her aneurysms. And though she was brain dead, her body was still safe enough to house her twin boys, until recently. Her blood pressure began to rise and at just 25 weeks, they had to be delivered, via c-section.

Her grandmother told doctors not to numb her for the procedure, in the hopes that she might wake up once she felt the pain. But Christine didn’t wake up and after the twins were delivered, her family made the decision to remove her from life support.

The twins, Nicholas and Alexander both weigh under two pounds and are under six inches long.

Christine’s aunt, Danielle Bolden,  told Michigan’s 24 Hour News 8 that ”God, he could have [taken] her and the boys. But he left the boys. That’s a miracle.”

Right now the twins are too fragile to have visitors but their family members can’t wait to see them.

Vance Terrell, Christine’s brother told spoke to mlive.com saying, “I can’t wait to be able to touch them and pick them up and tell them all about their mother and give them so much love. They’re so precious.”

You can watch the video news story here.

Mother’s death brings new life: woodtv.com

Source

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Source: BlackVoices.com

President Obama took a minute to reflect on the past earlier this week. Wednesday, while he was visiting the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, the president sat in the Montgomery, Alabama bus seat Rosa Parks refused to vacate.

Later, while in Detroit, the president shared his thoughts on the experience:

 ”I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history but is also part of that long line of folks who sometimes are nameless, often times didn’t make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream.”

Powerful stuff.

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This school year, Andria Black’s autistic son has racked up 16 days worth of absences, made up of 10-minute tardy’s and sick days. Now those absences may also add up to jail time for the 9-year-old’s mother.

Andria claims her son’s special needs affect the time she is able to get him to school in the morning but after three  years of trying to work something out, the Fitzgerald school district in Macomb County, MI, has turned Andria’s case over to the Macomb Country Intermediate School District, where the truancy officer is prosecuting her on charges that could lead to 90 days in jail and place her son in foster care.

“There has been an ongoing situation with this mother and at some point when things don’t change it has to go to court, our number one priority is educating kids,” M.I.S.D Deputy Superintendent Don Bollinger, says.

But is jail the way to get that message across? Andria obiously doesnt think so, saying some mornings her son will just shut down and not want to go to school. “If they need to reprimand me or he needs to make it up in summer school or something that’s fine, but jail time is not the answer.”

Instead of jail time, what this 27-year-old mother needs is parenting classes or a support group to help her figure out how to deal with her son’s special needs. Punishing her with jail time can’t do that.

Yesterday, Andria and her attorney requested a jury trial and they’re also hoping to focus the case on the number of absences her son has had this school year and not from the past three years. Her lawyer says it’s too difficult for Andria to recall why her son was absent or late on a particular day a few years ago.

Do you think this mother should serve jail time for her son’s truancy?

A black woman in Flint, MI, is not taking her home robbery lightly. The woman, who appears to be personally offended by the home invasion, spray painted the words, “This house is a reflection of ignorant n***as,” on a piece of plywood on her porch in an attempt to send a message to the community.

The woman, who has two children in college, told ABC News she intended to use the house to help the homeless. Instead, thieves took it upon themselves to vandalize her home by ripping out the windows so they could get scrap metal.

“They’re hustling out here,” said. “It’s a domino effect and yet we sit back and do nothing in the community.”

Some neighbors empathize with the woman. “I can understand just how frustrated the lady is. Somebody stole my pipes out of this house before I got here,” said neighbor Ladale Woods.

Others felt her frustration was misguided. “It’s ignorant of anyone to write that,” Martin Beard, a resident on the block, told Mlive.com.

The local NAACP Chapter President Frances Gilcreast agreed, saying the sign was a greater display of ignorance than the robbery.

“That’s a word that has long been offensive. I’m just appalled that in 2011 these things continue to happen.”

While the woman eventually spray painted over the n-word because people were offended by it, she takes the media attention as proof that her actions were successful.

“Evidently I got my message across because you guys are here,” she told ABC. “Well done. I did what I was supposed to do.”

And for people who believe her actions were ignorant, she said she disagrees. “I know who I am. I know where I’m going so the word does not define me. Not at all.”

You can view a video of the live report here. What do you think about this woman’s actions? Do you agree that she proved a point with her sign? Or did her actions send the wrong message?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Many of us have been there: you’ve either been asked to hold the burden of being the designated driver for the night, or you’ve had the tough task of duping someone into being the DD so you can ditch taxi fees. But it’s safe to say that you wouldn’t look at your child, whether they’re over 16 or not (who cares?), and say, “Honey, you’re taking the wheel tonight.” But a Michigan man proved how low he could go. The man had his 9-year-old daughter, boosted up in her seat, drive her father to a gas station at 3 a.m. on October 8. According to CNN, the man was seen and heard on surveillance tape telling the gas station attendant, “She drives us here. Nine years old, in the truck, we’re here. She drove all the way here.” What a proud dad, huh?

Once the two got back in the car, a witness called police. During the call, the man told police she was staying on the road,  using turn signals, and that he couldn’t believe it. Now, could he not believe that she was driving altogether, or that she was a GOOD driver? That is the question (kidding). In the end, the daddy and daughter were stopped. The father refused to take a breathalyzer, and he was charged with one felony count of child endangerment, a misdemeanor count of child abuse and habitual-offender fourth offense based on previous convictions, according to CNN.

Daddy wasn’t the only one pissed off about being stopped and arrested it seems. When the cops pulled the two over, the little girl said to police, “What did you stop me for? I was driving good.” Judge for yourself though, because video of the little one driving at the gas station has been provided below, thanks to the good

(The Root) — “Give us the ballot!”  Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still resonate with many of us today. From the marches and protests in Selma, Ala., to the hundreds of voting-rights lawsuits to the on-the-ground slogan “One Man, One Vote,” the road to equal voting rights has not been easy, particularly for communities of color.  This year conservatives have attempted to rewind the clock by stripping certain groups of their political power, and unfortunately, they have been successful in many places. In Michigan, a conservative-backed law that threatens to rob poor people of color of their democratic voice was passed without the attention it deserved. Under the pretext of fiscal accountability, the Michigan Legislature authorized the use of emergency managers who threaten the very fabric of our democracy: participation.

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(Detroit Free Press) — The first chancellor of the new statewide special district for Michigan’s lowest-performing schools could receive more than $1.5 million in salary and bonuses over his four-year contract, if he meets all performance targets.  John Covington, the departing superintendent of the Kansas City, Mo., School District, will be paid a $175,000 signing bonus and a $225,000 salary his first year as leader of the new Education Achievement Authority.  His base salary grows to $325,000 in the second year. And if he meets yet-to-be-determined goals, he could make more than $425,000 in each of the last two years of the contract.  As a comparison, the top salary for superintendents of the nation’s largest districts ranged up to $329,000 last year, according to a study by the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools.

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(Black Voice News) — As a ballot petition to repeal Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, circulates throughout the state, a broad coalition of labor and civil rights attorneys has already initiated legal action to defeat the bill in court. Filed in Ingham County Circuit court June 22, the lawsuit states that Public Act 4 illegally establishes a new form of local government, violating the constitutional rights of Michigan residents.  Attorney William Goodman of the Detroit Lawyers Guild told a National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) forum, held July last week at Fellowship Chapel, that putting together a legal strategy against a law so unjust proved challenging.  “The courts are controlled by reactionary, right-wing train of thought,” Goodman said. “But we have drafted a lawsuit that is very strong and powerful.”  In addition to legal aspects, over 100 in attendance heard testimony on what happens when an emergency manager takes over an entire city, such as Pontiac.  Pontiac’s elected city officials have had their political power stripped completely since the state of Michigan appointed Emergency Manager Michael Stampfler to run the city of Pontiac March 19.

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